RPM Ready to Drive through the Field on Sunday at Loudon

Richard Petty MotorsportsLoudon Qualifying Report

New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) will have to drive through the field on Sunday as Marcos Ambrose and Aric Almirola start 20th and 21st, respectively.
Both cars handled well in qualifying but needed to turn just a little better. Teams will have two practices tomorrow to find some more speed and turn better in the corner. They will have 300 laps to work their way up to the front. The No. 43 team needs a good finish to make up points lost last week in The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup when the team suffered their first engine failure in three seasons last weekend at Chicago.
Brad Keselowski won the pole.

Qualifying Results:

20: Marcos Ambrose, No. 9 STANLEY Ford

21: Aric Almirola, No. 43 Smithfield Ford

Comments from Marcos Ambrose after Qualifying at Loudon:

“The car felt like it handled well the first two runs. We tried a little something different on our last run to try to make the second round, but it just didn’t handle as well. I felt comfortable in our race runs in practice. We just needed a little more side bite. We have two practices tomorrow to work on our car to be able to drive through the field on Sunday.”

Comments from Aric Almirola after Qualifying at Loudon:

“It will be tough to come back from last week, but we don’t have a choice. We have to dig deep and try to rebound, but that was a heartbreaker. We were running really well at Chicago and that’s what we’re capable of, so now we have to figure out a way to do that again here this weekend. We didn’t qualify that great at Chicago either. I think we qualified 23rd, and we drove up through the field and were sixth with 30 laps to go. We qualified 21st here, and we have just as many cars to pass this weekend. I think we can do it. We’ll work on our car tomorrow and focus on passing one car at a time on Sunday.”

About Richard Petty Motorsports:

A performance and marketing driven company, Richard Petty Motorsports, co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty and successful business entrepreneurs Andrew Murstein and Douglas Bergeron, is one of the most recognized brands in all of motorsports. With a history of over 200 wins and business partnerships with national and global leaders, today the race operation fields two teams in competition in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Aric Almirola pilots the famous No. 43 Ford Fusion with primary partners Smithfield Foods, U.S. Air Force, STP, Strike Ten Entertainment and Fresh From Florida, and Marcos Ambrose drives the No. 9 machine with primary partners STANLEY, DEWALT, Mac Tools and Twisted Tea. In addition, Dakoda Armstrong wheels the No. 43 WinField Ford Mustang full-time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The team is headquartered in Concord, N.C.